LEAHY Berates Alberto Gonzales: "ANSWERS PLEASE" - YOU Would NOT Tolerate This & Either Will We

[kpete]

Leahy to Gonzales: Answers, Please
By Paul Kiel - April 5, 2007, 1:16 PM
Just a taste of what's to come.

In a letter today to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (who's doggedly preparing for his upcoming testimony), Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) scolded Gonzales for failing to respond to prior questions from the committee and requested that Gonzales prepare a written statement in advance of his April 17 hearing. Leahy said the statement should include "a full and complete account of the development of the plan to replace United States Attorneys, and all the specifics of your role in connection with this matter."

Leahy also not so subtly rebuked Gonzales and the administration for publicly complaining about the late hearing date; the White House has said they want it "sooner rather than later" to "get the facts." Leahy wrote: "As you will recall, my staff had requested earlier dates..., but you had declined those offers."

And after detailing Gonzales' failures in providing answers to written questions from the committee -- sometimes ignoring questions for as long as six months -- Leahy concluded:

You would not tolerate this kind of response time in a Justice Department investigation where months go by without answers and when those answers are finally provided they are outdated or superseded by events. That is not conducive to effective oversight.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002958.php

[ejbr]

1. And ANOTHER thing you pathetic

mother f&cker, no one likes you!!

[tblue]

3. Or believes you, you unqualified, cronified, lily livered heathen!

[ejbr]

8. DAGNABIT!!! n/t

[tblue]

2. How I love Patrick Leahy. It's like having a member of DU in the Senate.

[pepperbear]

4. in industry parlance, that's what's called....

a beeeaaatch slap

[AndyA]

5. Leahy is forgetting about the unrwritten rule: Do as I say, not as I do.

If Gonzo were going after a Dem, no doubt he'd throw the book at them, hold them to strict due dates, etc.

But now that the shoe is on the other foot, he expects every break and concession possible.

Throw the lousy bum out! He's a liar, a hypocrit, and he does not have the American public's best interest at heart.

[Sapere aude]

6. The Democratic Congress is reclaiming it's rightful place in the balance of power

between the co-equal branches of our government. For you freepers out there, please refer to your elementary school social studies books. For those freepers who haven't made it out of elementary school check out your local library. For those freepers who can't read, get your mommies to read it to you.

[IWantAChange]

7. Gonzo vs Leahy? I'll go with the smart guy - Leahy

prepare away Gonzo - once you are in front of the cameras and off your home court it's going to be time to pay the piper.

[bbgrunt]

9. there is nothing that warms my heart more than a pissed off Leahy

[bdamomma]

10. good for you Leahy, do not let these sleazebumbs breathe.

[bbgrunt]

11. k and r

[rateyes]

12. P.S.

On the day of the hearing, it might be advisable for you to put on a pair of Depends. You will be on camera, and by the time the hearing ends you WILL have shit in your britches.

[ClayZ]

15. and...

Bring your own air freshener, in case you do!

[wiggs]

13. Have subpoenas been issued yet for Rove and Meiers? If not, why not? nt

[lolly]

14. That's what I was wondering

What the heck is it with all these "requests" to appear? Why haven't they all been subpoenaed?

[mwb970]

16. I'm beginning to realize that there is more to this than even we think.

Some posts at Talking Points Memo (like this one) suggest that the 8 firings are merely the tip of yet another iceberg bearing down on the S.S. Chimpy.

Hope so!

[autorank]

17. I greatly admire Sen. Leahy, but Gonzo, he answers to a higher authority! K&R n/t